Sprinkles on broccoli, really?!

(First, I must apologize for leaving my regular readers hanging last week. I was down and out with a cold and couldn't formulate enough coherent thought. Thanks for missing me! If you'd like to read my post-sickie column on my blog, click here.)

As the New Year starts and I see all the resolutions and diet plans and detox kits and gym promos, I have to chuckle and shake my head. Do the marketers think we are that easy to manipulate that we will capitulate to these ready-made packages meant to change our outlook? Are we that malleable?? Is there a limit to the suggestions we will accept for ways to get to Nirvana? You know, that healthy existence that means we exude a Zen-like calm... living in a way that makes our aura the right colour, or makes our hearts beat stronger, or makes us feel years younger. Forgive my January cynicism but I like to think that approaching it all with a long term view tends to reap a much greater success rate. If you still have your gym membership in June, or you are still watching your toxin intake or your calories by the time we get to the beach - well, then your odds are probably in your favour for a generally positive time on the planet. Hopefully if you have kids you're teaching them the same kind of lifelong behaviours.

Photo: Contributed

Ah yes, children. The future of our planet. They need our help in making sure they know how to make the best decisions for long, happy, healthy, engaging lives. (So here's where I get to the sprinkles...) Sometimes we need to coax them along, and although I can't personally say I've experienced the torment of getting my child to do something they should, I do think there need to be limits to what we do. In a recent article posted by some keen parent group (no names as I don't want to pick on people) the list of great healthy snack ideas for your kids included yogurt dip with fruit, peanut butter and banana wraps, and broccoli with sprinkles on it! Come on, people, you can't be serious. I know that life deserves treats like eating dessert first once in a while, but I don't call that a healthy snack. That's like saying that a Big Mac is a healthy burger because it has lettuce and tomato. We're not exactly giving all the information to the young brain in this situation if we teach our kids in this manner. But that said, healthy does not mean boring, yucky-tasting or always full of seedy bits and tofu.

Children are generally keen to learn when they are young; they learn much of their hesitation from us adults. The more you can let your children try new experiences the better their chances to broaden their horizons and their understanding of the world in general. We know that kids learn a new language much faster than adults do. They will also learn new tastes more easily. Don't serve them plain food - sprinkle spices and herbs on it. Get them used to combinations of flavours. And try not to give them all your prejudices; let them decide what they like.

Children's tastebuds are developing constantly as they age, from birth right up to adulthood. As they try solid foods they experience new textures and flavours beyond being breast fed or given formulas. Many of the early foods are sweet, and they are usually associated with the idea that they are a treat, or a reward, hence they become a strong positive experience. In contrast, vegetables are often something kids are made to eat or nagged about. How do you think they then process the experience of eating say, broccoli as compared to apples? Once they hit puberty their hormones also affect how they process tastes. Did you know girls are more sensitive to sweet and sour than boys? Boys need a higher level of sugar for their system to register the taste at the same level of sweetness.

How we shape young people's eating habits and tastes will affect them for the rest of their lives. As we age, we lose our tastebuds and our sense of taste diminishes. Some people get dentures and have medical conditions that can hinder their eating experience as well. It gets harder for many to enjoy their food if they are not healthy too; feeling guilty that you don't eat right can ruin a good meal just as much as a fast food binge.

So please, don't confuse those young tastebuds. Educate them about the full range of food and show them it can all be fun to cook and eat. Broccoli doesn't need sprinkles to be cool! It can be awesome with cheese sauce, or roasted in the oven with spices, or served in a stir fry, or even added to a smoothie! Sprinkles deserve to have their own day in the sun, maybe on a homemade ice cream sundae. (And I do mean make the ice cream - here's a link that doesn't even require you having an ice cream machine.)

Bon Appetit!

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.